Warming the Hands

About 2 summers ago I went on a sock kick. Basically, the focus of my summer knitting was socks and only socks. I sort of lost interest in socks after awhile and haven't knit many pairs since then. This winter I feel like I am on a wrist warmer kick. In Novemberish I knit a pair of long malabrigo wrist warmers which were inspired by Hurry Up Spring. The warmers are a bright screaming red, and very thick (worsted weight yarn thickness) which means that I can't wear them under close fitting blouses or sweaters. They are great for outdoor wear on chilly days. Unfortunately, after about a week of wear they looked very worn (the down side of malabrigo)

Because of the deficiencies with my red Malabrigo mitts, I made a second pair this winter. Again, I chose Malabrigo yarn, this time, though, Malabrigo laceweight yarn. These mitts are good for indoor use, when my hands get chilly (all winter long) and since they are thin they fit well under close fitting tops. Unfortunately, they are purple. Not a sublte purple either. Also, since they are again Malabrigo, they look really worn already.

Since my recent mitts (I had 3 pairs before) are all looking really worn, it was time to start a new pair. I had been feeling pulled to one pair that I saw through ravelry, but then K sent me a link to a pair of herringbone patterned mitts and I was sold.

Because most of the mitts I own don't really go with my work wardrobe, I wanted to find colors that were tamer, and closer to neutral (though I didn't really want neutral). I chose to work with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino yarn in brown and a dusty lavender, both of which they had a Windsor Button. I cast on for the first. I decided to add a picot edging to the top and bottom of the mitts and made the wrist part longer than it was in the original mittens that these are based on. This is perhaps a tad smaller than would ideally be comfortable, but adding more than a stitch or two would make them too loose, so adding a whole pattern repeat was out of the question. Now I have one down and a second one started.